Centrifugal machine



April 23, 1929. w, c, LAUGHUN 1,710,316

CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE Filed March 29, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet l v I2 mvgokBYQM' ATTORNEY April 23, 1929. w, c, LAUGHUN 1 1,710,316

CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE Filed March 29, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY 1VENTOR. @a zu April 23, 1929. w, c, LAUGHLlN 1,710,316

CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE Filed March 29, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 58 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY A ril 23, 1929. w. c. LAUGHLIN 1,710,316

CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE Filed March 29, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Q; 45 45 G 4a42.

l 45 I a INVENTOR. WW6. BY M ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 23,- 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM C. LAUGHLIN, OF GLENDALE,CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR '10 LAUGHLIN FILTER CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N.Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

CEN TRIFUG-AL INLACJHZIILTIQ.

Application filed March 29, 1927. Serfal No. 179,208.

This invention relates to centrifugal machines and more particularly torotary separators for efiiciently separating component parts of complexmaterials.

Broadly stated the object of the present invention is to provide aconstantly driven rotary separator for acting upon materialscontinuously.

According to one feature of the invention 1 the material to be actedupon is fed through a hollow shaft into a rotating chamber of conicalshape and is emitted therefrom by centrifugal force and subsequentlyseparated into parts having different characteristics.

An important feature of the invention relates to the provision ofimproved means for separating a mixture of solid particles and aplurality of liquids of relatively different specific gravities, in onecontinuous operation.

Another feature relates to the provision of an improved screw propellerfor acting upon the material whereby to expel solid material in onedirection and to agitate the emotion of liquid material for the purposeof separating therefrom liquids having different specific gravities.

, Another important feature of the invention is that the liquidcomponent of the material is smoothed thi'ough the mechanismlongitudinally in one general direction, the effect of the centrifugalforce being to separate the parts having different specific gra-vities,and in the provision of improved means for draining off the fluid ofhigher specific gravity.

Another feature relates to the provision of a casing operable at a speedrelatively different from the rate of movement of the screw propeller,the casing being provided with a plurality of separating chambers forconducting fluids of relatively different specific gravit-ies.

Still another feature of the invention is to provide an improvedcombination of elements for separating solid material and complex fluidmaterial, and which may be cheaply constructed and readily assembled anddisinantled.

Other objects will appear from the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a sideelevation of a machine embodying features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial longitudinal section of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3--3 of -Fig. 2;

Like reference characters denote like parts in the several figures ofthe drawing.

In the following description and claims, parts, characteristic featuresand functions will be identified by specific means for convenience ofexpression, but they are intended to be as generic in their applicationto similar parts or equivalentconstruction as the art will permit,

Referring to the drawings and more-particularly to F ig. 1, there isshown a base 10 of conventional form, serving as a mounting for themachine. The separator and its associated parts are mounted upon theupper face of the base 10 by being bolted thereto. As illustrated inFig. 1, the mechanism comprises generally an inverted hanger 11 securedto the base 10 and supporting a hollow shaft 12, a solid discharge box13, a liquid discharge box 14, and a power transmitting device 15.

One end of the hollow shaft 12 is provided with an intake 20 with whichregisters a stationary inlet pipe 21 extending from a suitable eontainerof raw material (not shown) and forming a source of material to be actedupon. The inlet pipe 21 is in communication with a bore 22 of the shaft12 (see Fig. 2). The bore 22 extends partiallythrough the shaft 12 andinto communication with aligned transverse apertures such as 23 showntwo in number (see Fig. 4). As clearly seen in Fig. 2, the soliddischarge box 13 includes an end plate 24 having an aperture as at 25sufliciently large to provide ample clearance with respect to the shaft12, and having an opposed end plate 26 apertured as at 27, andan arcuatewall 28 secured to the end plates 24, 26 along their eripheral edges inany de- -sired manner, t us forming a chamber for the discharge of solidmaterial, as will subsequently appear.

There is mounted upon the shaft 12 in position to discharge into thesolid discharge box 13 a rotary screw propeller 30, which may take theform illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6'. As so illustrated, it includes arotor of frusto conical shape the enlarged end of which may be formedcylindricall as at 31. The propeller also includes a ub portion 32 which1s provided with an internal bore of such size as to fit snugly upon theshaft 12. The hub 32 has a keyed connection including keys such as 33positioned in suitable key ways such as 34 on the shaft 12 by which thepropeller 30 is fixedly mountedupon the shaft so as to rotate therewith.The propeller 30 is positioned on the shaft 12 so that its smaller .endprojects through the aperture 27 of the solid discharge box end plate 26and thus into the interior of the solid discharge box 13.

The outer face of the propeller 30 between the small endand thecylindrical portion 31 slopes to forma cone shaped surface 35, and

in combination with the hub 32 and end wall 36 there is inclosed withinthe propeller an annular chamber 37 of triangular section. The hub 32 isapertured as at 38 to form a passage sufliciently large to register withthe transverse apertures 23 of the shaft 12.

The end wall 36 of the screw propeller 30 may be provided with asuitable number of core holes as at 41, as for example two in number, toexpedite the casting of this ele-' ment, such holes permitting theelimination of the sand after casting. The screw propeller also includestwo spiral blades or .fianges 42, 43 extending spirally around thesloping wall 35 and around the cylindrical portion 31. The sloping wall35 of the chamber 37 is provided adjacent to the end wall 36 with'aplurality of apertures 44..

The spiral blades 42, 43 near the small end of the propeller areprovided with transverse passages which may take the form of aperturessuch as 45, 45,-and will thus'permit the passage of material'between thecompartments formed by the blades. The apertures 41 in the wall 36 ofthe propellerare preferably cast for the reception of suitable lindplugs such as 46 whereby the apertures may be effectively closed duringthe operation of the machine.

The shaft 12 extends into operative connection with the powertransmitting device 15 and thus to a power'source shown in the form of'asprocket 50 so as to be driven at a redetermined constant speed therebyas has Eeen' fully disclosed in my copending application Serial No.145,141 filed October 30, 1926. The power transmitting device 15 alsodrives, but at a slightly differing speed,

a rotor 62 which is mounted on :a conven- I tional frictionreducingelement such as a bearing'63 on. the shaft 12 and thus is driven at aspeed relatively different from the rate of movement of the shaft. TheZrotor 62 is provided onone lateral face-with an integral annular flan e65 upon which there is securedan annular aflle plate 66. The bafile isformed of relativel thin metal an tends in spaced para lel relation withthe proximate face of the rotor 62 thus forming one ,wall of a pocket 67for the passage of late fluids. The pocket 67 is in communication. I

near the periphcr of the rotor 62 with radially extendin s ots 68 formedin the rotor. The rotor 62 as secured thereto a tapered by a threadedWall of the casing 70 is sub- The vblades 42, 43 extend outwardly fromthe surfaces of the rotor 30 in such a direction as to form with theadjacent inner surface of the outer casing 70 substantially a rightangle.

The liquid discharge valve 14 includes end walls 80, 81 and anintermediate transverse wall, or partition 82 thus formin two annularchambers 83, 84. The right-hand chamber 84 is provided with interiorlydisposed deflectors 86, 87 which extend from the walls 82, 81respectively, and which are terminated so as to leaveja passage 88 forthe discharge of fluid from the pocket 67 into. the interior. of thechamber 84. The left-hand chamber 83 is similarly providedwith-interiorly disposed deflectors 89, 90 which extend from the walls82 respectivelyand which are terminated so as to leave a passage 91 forthe discharge of fluid into the interior of the chamber 83. The annularchamber 84 empties into a discharge pipe 92 for heavy liquids and thechamber 83 empties into a discharge pipe 93 for liquids of lighterspecific gravity.

In the wall of the cylindrical portion of the casing 70 therezis mounteda radial tube having it outer surface screw-threaded so as to beadjustable radially with respect to the casing upon which it ismounted."- A

lock nut 101 is provided for maintaining the tube 100 in desiredposition. The arrange-.

ment is such that by adjusting the position of the tube 100 the spaceindicated as at 102 be ween the inner end of the tube and the wall ofthe cylindrical portion 31 of the rotor 30 maybe varied as desired.Theltube 100 and accordingly the flanges 42, 43 arevcut away as at 103to permit relative movement of the parts without contact. The outer endof the tube 100 registers with the aperture 91 for the discharge ofmaterial from between the flanges 42, 43 into the interior of thechamber 83.

The end of the cylindrical portion 31 of the propeller 30 is providedwith a baflle plate 110 having its periphery 111 positioned in spacedrelation with the inner face of the easing 70 so as to leave a passage112 for permitting the flow of the'fiuid component of relatively heavyspecific gravity.

The hub 31 when cast has a length commensurate with the length of thecylindrical portion of the casing 70 but during the machine operationthe hub 31 is ground down to the form shown in Fig. 2. It is understood,however, that in this machine operation only the hub and the portion ofthe flanges are cut away, and this leaves a projection 113 extendingfromthe peripheral portion of each of the flanges 42, 43 for cleaningofi' sediment which may be deposited near the right-hand termination ofthe bore of the casing 70. After having been thus machined the baffle110 is secured to the hub 31 as by being riveted or bolted thereto.

In the operation of the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive thepower source 50 is actuated to drive the shaft 12 at one predeterminedspeed and the casing 70 at a slightly differing predetermined speed.Since the inner rotor 30 is driven by the shaft 12 a differentialmovement is produced between the flanges 42, 43 of the rotor 30 and theadjacent surface of the casing 70. For example, the propeller 30 may bedriven at a speed of 1,000 revolutions per minute and the casing 70 at aspeed of 996 revolutions per minute or other suitable speeds may beemployed.

The material to be acted upon is fed into the pipe 21 and is thrown outfrom the bore 22 through the aperture 38 into the chamber 37 bycentrifugal force. The material is then discharged through the apertures44 into the space between the blades 42, 43 of the propeller 30. In thisspace the fluid and solid particles are effectively separated by the action of centrifugal force and by virtue of their relatively difl'crentspecific gravities.

The solid component of the material is forced by the screw action of theblades 42, 43 towards the smaller end of the screw propeller 30.Inasmuch as it is being constantly subjected to the action ofcentrifugal force, moisture is continually separated off from thematerial and moves along the inner face of the outer casing towards theright of Fig. 2. Thus as the material being acted upon graduallyapproaches the left-end or smaller end of the propeller it becomes lessmoist. Furthermore, the driest portion of the material is, at eachstage,nearer the outer ed e of the blade. As it is being pushed town 5 theleft of Fig. 2 it finally reaches the part of the blade having theapertures 45. The dr er or outermost portion of the material isuneffected by the apertures, but the inner portion can pass through theapertures 45 towards the right of Fig. 2 where it is acted upon againfor additional drying. Thus the moist art of the material at the finalstage s acte upon repeatedly when necessary until 1t has becomesufliciently dehydrated and is discharged from the end of the propellerinto the solid discharge box 13 and thus-into a suitable container.After the fluid component of the material has been separated from thesolid component it flows along the wall of the'casmg 7 0 beingmaintained in contact therewith by the centrifugal force produced by thecontinuous rotation of the rotor. The fluid thus continues its motiontowards the right of Fig. 2, becoming gradually more free of solidparticles and taking on the character of an emulsion of oil and water.As this emulsion is acted upon by centrifugal force the water component,having a relatively heavy specific gravity tends to be thrown outwardlyradially with greater force than the oil component having a relativelylight specific gravity. Thus the oil component floats into proximity tothe outer wall. of the right-hand portion of the hub 31 and is drawn.off therefrom through the tube from the outer end of which it is emittedthrough the passage 91 into the oil chamber 83. The oil component thenflows by gravity through the discharge pipe 93. The heavy or watercomponentof the fluid continues its movement along the inner wall of theouter casing and passes through the space 112 andbetween the baffleplates and 66. The water then escapes over the inner periphery of theannular baffle 66 into the pocket 67 and is thrown out through the slot68 and the passage 88 into the water chamber 84. It then flows bygravity through the water discharge pipe 92.

In the modified form shown in Figs. 7' and 8 the tube 100 is dispensedwith and there is secured to the casing 7 0 a plurality of variouslycharacterized inwardly extending baffle plat-es. A two lip bafiie 200having a lip 201 of limited extent and a lip 202 extending inwardly to arelatively greater extent is provided with a plurality of radialpassages such as 203 (see Fig. 8). The battle 200 is also apertured asat 204 these apertures being inclined towards the center andcommunicating with that portion of the space between the hub 31 and theouter casing 70 which is proximate to the inner wall of the casing 7 0.A second baffle 205 is provided in spaced relation with the baflle 200so as to form a recess 206 with which the apertures 204 communicate. Theouter peripheries of the bafile 200,

205 are bolted between the flange 62 and the rim of the casing 70 bymeans of suitable bolts such as 207. The baflle 205 is also in spacedrelation with the inner face of the flange 62 so as to form a pocket208. A plurality of milled slots such as 209 extend outwardly in aradial direction from thep'ockct 208.

The fluid box 14 is divided by means of a part itiou 210 into an oilcompartment 211 and a watercompartment 212, the oil compartment 211having a deflector 213 extending from the end wall inwardly andterminating so as to leave a passage 214 which registers with thepassages203 of the baflle 200. Similarly the water chamber 212 isprovided with a deflector 215 extending inwardly from the respective endwall of the fluid box and terminated so as tol'eave a passage 216 whichregisters' with the apertures 209 for the water emitted therethrough.The oil compartment 211 is drained by an oil drain pipe 217 andtsimilarly the water compartment 212 is drained by a water drain pipe218.

In operation, the structure of Figs. 7 and 8 separate the fluidcomponentfrom the solid component as has been described with respect to theembodiment ofvFigs. 1 to 6, and the fluid component is thus in the formof an emulsion upon reaching the'space designated as at 220 in Fig. 7with the portion of relatively heavy specific gravity tending towardsthe outer casing 70. and the oil portion of relatively lighter specificgravity tending towards the outer wall of the inner hub 31. Much of thewater component is drawn off through the apertures 204 into the pocket206 from which it escapes around the inner pe-' riphery of the baflie205 and into the recess 208. The 'oil component flows aroundthe in- .ncrperipheral edge of the lip 201 and is thrown by centrifugal forcethrough the radial passages 203 into the oil chamber 211 from where itflows by gravity into the oil discharge pipe 217=for collection insuitable containers, or for subsequent treatment. In case the oilcomponent as so collected contains an excessive quantity of water it maybe again introduced through the feed pipe 21 for repeated action.

' The invention upon which this application is based is broader than thespecific embodiment shown and described for the purpose of tion istherefore to be understood as not being hunted by the present specificdescription. I

intend nolimitation other than those imposed by the 'cla'ims.

1. A rotary separator of the bowl type comprising a frusto conicalcasing having a discharge opening 'for solids and two discharge openingsfor fluids, one of said fluid openings having an adjustable nippleforvarying the character of fluid component discharged therethrough, anda rotor within said cas- 1ng havinga'sloping wall substantially parallelwith and spaced fromthe inner wall of said casing, said inner rotorhaving perfoe rated spiral flanges dividing the space between sajidwalls into compartments.

2. A rotary separator of the bowl type comprising a casing having .acylindrical portion and a conical portion, a differentially driven rotorpositioned within said casing, having a wall uniformly spaced from theinner wall of said caslng and having perforated spiral flanges dividingthe space between said flanges, and an adjustable radial tube mounted inthe cylindrical named casing.

3. A rotaryseparator of the bowltype comprising a casing having acylindrical portion and a conical portion, a differentially portionofsaid firstdriven rotor positioned within said casing,

having a Wall uniformly spaced from the inner wall of said casing andhaving perforated spiral flanges dividingv the space between saidflanges, a radial tubemounted in the cylindrical portion of saidfirst-named casing, having its inner end extending into spaced relationwith the wall of theother casing, and 1 means for locking said tube infixed predetermined position.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 26th day of March, A. 1)., 1927.

' WILLIAM C. LAUGHLIN.

